‘As one of the most prolific contemporary urban artists of his generation, D*Face (a.k.a. Dean Stockton) has been at the forefront of his practice since his initial breakthrough in 2005. Working with a variety of mediums and techniques, he employs a family of dysfunctional characters to satirise and hold to ransom all that falls into their grasp – a welcome jolt of subversion in today’s media-saturated environment.
His ambition is to encourage the public eye not just to “see” but to carefully consider the surroundings of our day-to-day, and society’s increasingly bizarre fascination with celebrity culture and mass consumerism.
Regarding the festival and his part in the Unfairground 2019, D*Face said:
“Glastonbury Festival has always seemed something of a right of passage to me – can you ever truly call yourself British if you haven’t survived a Glasto weekend at least once in your life? It’s on par with sausage rolls and talking about the weather, that’s just how synonymous it is to British culture.
This being my first time then, makes it all the more surreal that I’m coming as a featured artist for the Unfairground. It’s an undertaking that’s both exciting and daunting, not least because painting and bad weather aren’t exactly notorious for going hand in hand. Don’t get me wrong, I can handle the weather – I painted a mural during Tokyo’s monsoon season back in 2017. Glastonbury is simply unlike any other event, artistic, musical or otherwise. As a born and bred British artist, it’s huge to be a part of that and to be able to play a role creatively for all those tens of thousands of people, for many of which this is probably the best weekend of their year. It’s not really an invitation you can turn down to be honest and besides, ask me to come anywhere The Cure are playing and you’ll catch me down the front. Robert Smith if you’re reading this…
As for the Unfairground itself, it could hardly seem like a better host for my work, satirical, subversive, a little bit unhinged, my work has always celebrated these things. I massively look forward to seeing how people react to it over the course of the festival and from what I’m told it’s set to be one heck of a weekend!”
